Delhi, Agra & the Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle is a cliché because it works; the trick is the timing. The Taj rewards the 6.15am gate rather than the coach hour, and Agra’s smaller Mughal tomb, Itmad-ud-Daulah, is often empty at eight. In Delhi we spend a morning in the Mehrauli archaeological park instead of another drive-past of India Gate, and an evening at the Nizamuddin dargah when the qawwals sing. Between Agra and Jaipur, the Chambal river holds gharial, Indian skimmers and, in winter, a great deal of quiet. Abhaneri’s stepwell takes twenty minutes and stays with people for years. Allow for December fog, which delays morning flights out of Delhi more often than anyone admits.